During Mech_Con 2016, Piranha Games announced MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, this will be a single player standalone experience, the first one made for the franchise in nearly fifteen years.

　　According to the official press release, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is set in the year 3015 with players taking the role of a mercenary during the Third Succession War. The career-based mercenary campaign will be driven by player choice and feature lots of intense mech combat, of course.

　　Russ Bullock, President of Piranha Games, said:

　　Our main goal with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is to provide fans with a standalone, story-driven single-player experience that allows for a great amount of flexibility in terms of player choice, built on a foundation of the intense, tactical ‘Mech combat the franchise is known for. Along with the release of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries in 2018 we're going to continue supporting our existing MechWarrior Online game and its fanbase with new updates and regular content releases. MWO is now in its fifth year of development and operation, and there’s still a lot of really cool stuff planned for it. For fans who have been waiting for the return of a true single-player MechWarrior game though, we are really happy to announce MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries.

　　The game is targeting a release on PC in 2018 and it's being developed by a separate team inside Piranha Games. That means MechWarrior Online, the existing F2P multiplayer game, will continue being updated by its existing development team.

　　You can check out the first pre-alpha footage of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries showcased at Mech_Con 2016 in the video embedded below.